My Testimony – Chris Leidlein – Saved since 1974

A little background first. I was born October 5, 1954. So I’m a boomer! The second of 8 children (six boys and 2 girls). Mom & Dad were both dedicated and loving Catholics Christians. I had two German Grandfathers and two Irish Grandmothers plus 45 first cousins that we hung with all the time.

Catholic school for the first 10 years. Church every Sunday with the whole family. My Dad had his own business building new homes in the Detroit suburbs. So, I always had various work with him until I got older and would get my own jobs.

I was 14 in 1968. Rock and Roll, anti-war protests and the sexual revolution were changing the world. All of these things had a huge effect on the way all young teens saw things at that time. I played around with alcohol when I could get it. On a dare I began to experiment with drugs. This became a bigger and bigger part of my life as the years went by. I did ok in school and always had a job but felt more and more like I was out of control.

By the time I graduated in 1973 I was getting high pretty much every day. I thought I would take a year off and just see what life had to offer. Work in that factory job was terrible and life took on this bizarre pattern of work and partying. I felt like I was totally out of control of who and what I was or was meant to be. It was terrible and left me feeling extremely empty.

My friend Jeff had become a Christian and when I would bump into him he would talk to me about Jesus. I really wasn’t interested but I respected him for it and he seemed to be happy. He would give me tracks about Jesus which I stuck in my pocket. My plan was to throw them away but I would save them in my room. I would read them late at night when I couldn’t sleep. They would speak to me but I could not see how I could get the strength to quit getting high. I read the book, Late Great Planet Earth during this time and it scared the bejeebers out of me!

In the summer of 1974 I decided to take a week with one of my friends and go up to his folks cabin on the Au Sable river in MI. We were both riding Triumph 650 motorcycles and were looking forward to a good relaxing time. As usual, we partied pretty much the whole time. One night we were heading out to do some fishing on the river. (I grabbed a radio so that I could listen to Richard Nixon give his resignation speech that night.)

A few days before we were supposed to head home a tremendous sense of dread and helplessness began to wash over me. I just knew that if I went home I would be stuck in this rut I was living in and I could not see any way out. Late at night, I got down on my knees and I began to pray. Not sure who I was praying to but just a cry from my heart. “God, whoever you are and wherever you are. Please help me! Please make a way for me to stay up here, away from the influence of my party friends for just a bit longer.” That was it. I can’t say I felt anything special. Just knew I needed a change.

Before heading home, we decided to take a day and ride out and see Thunder Bay. It was about a 60 mile ride from where we were staying. It was a beautiful sunny day. A little cool but perfect for a nice ride. When we reached the public lookout area we had to park our motorcycles and walk about a mile down a narrow path to see the Bay. It was beautiful but I kept fighting a sorrow and dread with the thought that I was going to have to go home the next day.

As we sat looking out over the bay, the quiet was broken by the rumble of a motorcycle coming up through the woods. Strange, since you really were not supposed to drive up there. Lo and behold who comes cruising up the dirt path but one of our mutual friends from back home riding his own Triumph Bonneville 650! “Tom!! What the heck are you doing out here??!!” we yelled. “Well, I am staying the summer about 60 miles from here and I just felt like going for a cruise today.” I saw your bikes out at the parking area and thought it might be you guys. What a surprise! Hey, do either of you guys want to spend the rest of the summer up here working with me? I am doing a big roofing job in a small town about 60 miles West of here.”

The hair on my neck stood up and I had goose bumps up and down my arms. This was just weird! I had just prayed for this very thing to happen. Could it be that God really cared about me enough to do this? How and why would I bump into this friend of mine 120 miles from where we both lived. And then, he offers me a job for the summer? I knew in that moment that God was real. That God cared about me. And that God wanted me to know Him.

That incident changed my life. It is not that I stopped partying right away or that everything became sweet and rosy. But I began to seek God earnestly that summer. And I had hope! Hope for a life with meaning. When I returned home in that fall of ’74, I immediately looked up my Christian friend Jeff. I went to church with him where I heard the clear Gospel of Jesus Christ. When the minister called for people to come up front if they wanted to give their hearts to Jesus, I was so anxious to get there I actually pushed a couple of people out of my way! I had a long way to go then, and I have a long way to go now. But for these last 46 years I have known that I am committed to Him and He is committed to me. His blood has washed away my sin and I am free!

As I began to attend church regularly and to read the Word I also took many important steps to grow in Him. In 1975 I was filled with the Holy Spirit at a Catholic Charismatic meeting. Then I believe it was 1978 when I was water baptized by immersion at Bethesda Missionary Fellowship in Detroit MI.

God is GOOD!